How are we to explain the continued strength of theism?

Because theism makes promises..... eternal life.... and for folks who just hate the idea of dieing like every other living thing, it is an escape mechanism.

As Carl Sagan said,"There will always be religions and astrologers".

Why? Because there will always be the lonely, the undereducated, the poor, the abandoned. And they just Loooooveeeee imaginary friends.

Thats easy we have an eternal soul all life interacts with it , some need to connect with it consciously , theism is one way , people like to be part of a team or tribe , people are born into team or pick one , to start your own team takes a lot of hard work and can be lonely , we need more choices science is yet to give us a proven choice but it will come.

More info type in Marc Lambert and String Theory

With all of its silliness, the continued popularity of theism is simply dumbfounding! I put it down to some combination of limited intelligence and a significant level of cowardice in refusing to face the miserable truth about death: that it leads immediately to oblivion.

About 80% of adults appear not to have the stomach for dealing with reality, once they have been presented with an alternative - even though the alternative (to have one's imaginary soul spend all eternity in a heavenly paradise) is clearly irrational.

Well Christianity in the uk fell again. And people claiming they have no faith went up again. I'm failing to see this strength. Unless you are speaking of Islam which grows because of the changing demographic. If you have 7 kids and they are all raised Islamic, obviously Islam is going to grow.

God revealing himself.

Just this morning, I was listening to a program where the pastor in war torn Iraq was having professing Muslims show up on the church's doorstep because Jesus has been visiting people through dreams and visions.

In my case, this happened:

Jesus Christ incarnated in the flesh and came through the wall of my living room on Nov.9th, 2003. At that time, I was 42, and so naive about the things of God, that I thought the experience of meeting Jesus face-to-face was what everyone who was born again experienced.

Jesus is real folks. God is real. Heaven is real. And this is a test. A test to decide if you want to have a relationship with the creator of the galaxies. He would never force you.... and therefore he likes to remain silent unless you really want to know him. At that time, he will reveal himself to you... and you will have life.

The fact atheists after 2500 years of trying still have been unable to put together a truly convincing argument against God.

Human fear, credulousness, and hope.